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Car GPS on FJR ?

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#1 · (Edited)
Morning all ... Anyone have thoughts on using an auto GPS unit on the bike , I'm trying to decide whether to use the a great car unit or should I go for a Zumo or something similar ? Thanks in advance , Anthony
 
#2 ·
I went through 2 car units until I gave up and invested in a Zumo. The USB ports on the car units kept failing.
The car units are not water proof and don't work with gloves. The car units are cheap enough to try though. You can buy them at the flea market, Ebay and Craigslist all day long for $25 or less.
 
#8 ·
The Garmin usb ports on old Nuvis do indeed fail. 90deg plug helps. Repairable if you are lucky (check out utube). So cheap to buy a used one though. I dont take it off the bike everytime because i dont care if its stolen. Wouldnt do that with a Zumo !!
 
#3 ·
I didn't want a cheap one , I took an top shelf one from a friend who didn't need it anymore , it has all these crazy features. Glad I asked , thanks for helping , I'll go get a Zumo instead
 
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#4 ·
I have used car units for over 10 years on a variety of bikes. Set them up with Ram mounts and all works fine. If it is going to rain put them in your luggage. If you really need it for direction while raining a motel shoer cap or a sandwich baggie will protect it. Car units are about a third of the price and eventually all GPS units need to be replaced.
 
#9 ·
Wow, I also have a Nuvi 2455. What about 8 years old? Charged it up, loaded 2020 US maps and it will be in my wife's car.

If you want a plug and play installation, the MC units are a tad more rugged in build and waterproof-ish. LEave anything in the rain, and things will get froggy.

The Garmin 396 LMT-s are on sale now. Bought one that I'll use on my MCs. Matter of choice and $$$$$.
 
#6 ·
I got two refurbished Nuvis for $99 about seven years ago. One was in my truck and recently died. The other has been on one bike or another and is still going strong on one of our Urals. We have two BMW Nav VIs (Garmins) and a Garmin 660 on our BMWs. The bike specific units are better for riding but the cheap Nuvi gets the job done for far less. Carry a ziplock sandwich bag to put over it in the rain or just take it off.
 
#11 ·
Or just buy a Sena (Cardo or other) and hear "turn-by-turn" instructions from your phone and Google Map, always up to date and it will even give you traffic, police radars and other information.
Use RAM X-grip but "DON'T FORGET to use the rubber tethering thingy"...ask me how I know :(
 
#60 ·
I'm old school and the only thing I want to hear from a GPS is a short beep at my next turn. Google maps just talks WAY too much and I just want to say STFU. I also just want to see a moving map with roads on it. Phones and TomToms just tend to zoom all the way in so all you see is a single line...useless.

I'm currently using a 20 year old Garmin 60CS waterproof handheld GPS. Works fine but the screen is getting harder to read every year as it keeps shrinking!
 
#12 · (Edited)
I have many GPS units for different types of activities. So I didn't want to buy another GPS just for my bikes.
In the end I settled on the Garmin 64s for rural riding and a GarminDrive 51LM for when I ride in cities.

The Garmin 64s is attached to the bike using Ram cradle and clamps. The 64s runs all day on 2 AA batteries and is easily read in bright sunlight.

The Garmin 51LM is attached to the bike using Hondo Garage cradle, anti vibration attachment and Ram clamps. The 51 LM is easily read in bright daylight and has lane guidance for city use. Power for this GPS is by an Optimate usb adapter and usb cable that has a 'up mini' end to reduce stress on the GPS GPS input. When I ride in the rain I throw a sandwich bag over it. I have used this system for over 10,00 km without any problems on all road conditions.

In reality I could use the 51LM for all my riding. Its just that I like the 64s for riding in the country despite its small screen.

I will attach pics in another post as I can't figure out how to do it from my phone.

So to answer your question, a good quality car GPS is perfectly suitable for the FJR. Its whatever floats your boat.

Sorry for the long post.
 

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#13 ·
I have used a Magellan car-type GPS device on my bikes for years. A Ram "Aquabox" keeps it dry, though it makes the device rather large. Prior to finding the Aquabox I too used a sandwich bag, which worked fine. Few problems with the touch screen even with gloves on and the Aquabox's silicone window. I was recently given a Zumo but haven't used it much as the screen is tiny.
 
#15 ·
I used a nuvi for many years on bikes and still prefer it over my zumo. The nuvi does everything I need flawlessly and has features I like that the zumo lacks.
 
#16 ·
I used our Nuvi from our car for many years on several bikes and used a sandwich bag for rain duty but after a particular toad strangler rain storm it lost a spot of pixels that never came back but it still works fine. I did buy the motorcycle specific weatherproof unit a few years ago with no complaints.
 
#17 ·
To me the motorcycle GPS has greater features like being waterproof, ability to load routes for multi-day trips, and if you like music, an mp3 player. More money of course, but I have friends who have bought several car GPS's for their bike, they don't seem to stand up to the vibrations or destroy their power wire connectors.
I still have my original Zumo 550 I bought in 2007, and upgraded to a Zumo 590 a couple of years back... economically speaking I have spent more than they. I am going to sell my 550 and 590 at some point, I've got a 396 now in my downsizing stragegy for the two smaller bikes.
 
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#19 ·
Other than being waterproof, my nuvi has more and better features. I wear earbuds with an mp3 player so:

- an external earbud jack. When raining I often just used a baggie but there was always the option of dropping the gps in a pocket and plugging in.
- the SD card in the gps held loads of music so just like today's units, I could listen, it would stop music and give instructions, then play tunes again;
- my mp3 is also an FM receiver and my nuvi is an FM transmitter so often I just picked an unused frequency and left the gps mounted;
- gps is blutooth too;
- I could load nearly infinite routes directly to the SD card and import and delete as needed. I have a 32gb card, that's a lot of routes and tunes!
- the nuvi is infinitely more straightforward to use. The 595 is a quirky, inconsistent beast;
- my nuvi has lasted 10 yrs on the bike. I replaced the digitzer and screen for $16, it keeps going and going.

Today's 590/595 series IMHO tries to do so much for so many different types of riders that it rarely does anything well.

Below are pics of my old nuvi set up. I have the 595 mounted on the same ball but dislike it immensely. See, the nuvi power cord and cradle were removable so when not in use there's nothing there but the ball. But the 595 is more of a permanent mount- I can rotate it down out of the way but it's always there.
 

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#18 ·
I purchased a complete used ZUMO 660 that is 5 years old for $200.00, it works great with gloves vs my Nuvi I use in the car. Last year we drove into a sudden rain storm in the Mountains and no time to stop, narrow road no shoulder to get out cover for the Nuvi before we were soaked and it failed the next morning. After 8 months of no issues I spent the $ for the LTM and updated the firmware.
Like Ray mentioned you add custom maps plus a memory card for extra larger maps, access volume with gloves is a plus for me at slow speeds the voice is LOUD from having it turned up so I can hear it at on the Hiway. I tried using my cell but when you lose the signal and you did not save the map :surprise:......... and again worry about rain.
 
#20 ·
I had been using a 2597 for several years before I replaced it with a 396 on sale. Mounted it above the tach behind the windshield.


Advantage: Cheap.
Disadvantages: Display is unusable in bright sunlight. Anti-reflective film and a hood help. According to the advertising, it has Bluetooth built in. Alas, it's crippled and will not work with a Sena.
 
#21 ·
The 396 and my Sena get along just fine. You may have to change a BT setting. All of them need a hood in the sun, doesn't matter much what you have.
There are only a select few car GPS's accept routing. A couple of Nuvi's were good.
 
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#23 ·
Being mostly clueless I went over to BestBuy and got a German Drive? because they didn’t stock a Nuvi. Paid about $99. for it. I don’t think I can load routes into it or if so I haven’t figured out how which is a bummer. I don’t put much emphasis on GPS but I suppose if I got a new one I’d go for a better one. For now it works so not worth replacing.
 
#24 ·
Being mostly clueless I went over to BestBuy and got a German Drive? because they didn't stock a Nuvi. Paid about $99. for it. I don't think I can load routes into it or if so I haven't figured out how which is a bummer. I don't put much emphasis on GPS but I suppose if I got a new one I'd go for a better one. For now it works so not worth replacing.
Exactly! When I first started out attempting travels with a gps I chose a $180 nuvi from WalMart.com & was second guessing that amount the whole time. I couldn't see spending gobs of $$$ for technogeeky gobbledeegook when I didn't know what I want/need and didn't know anything about software routing. Throw in the device management and I was completely lost. I don't bluetooth, I don't fiddle with tracks, I don't Spotify, I don't.... and I don't. I wanted a basic cheap gps to learn by and figure out my wants. The nuvi was perfect, the 595 not so much. It would be nice if I could delete a bunch of apps from the 595 to simplify. If you visit www.zumouserforums.co.uk you can see all the connectivity and routing problems people worldwide are constantly having with all of Garmin's devices. Still. Trust me, it's not you. After all this time they can't get any of it consistently functional.

One of my favorite travel stops- interstate state welcome centers. Free paper maps! Love 'em!!
 
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#28 ·
One of the things I like about paper maps is it lets you see the big picture. GPSs only seem to give you info on a need to know basis. I use paper maps and occasionally look at the GPS to confirm what I saw on the map.
 
#29 · (Edited)
For several years I've used an old (circa 2009) Nuvi 1450 on my bike, with no complaints. Several of my riding friends have moved away from using a stand-alone GPS and to using a motorcycle mapping app called Scenic on their iPhones. https://scenicapp.space/ I haven't used it as I have an Android phone. Apparently the app developer is working toward having an Android version in 2020. My friends are not that easy to please (think "grumpy old men"), and they all think very highly of the Scenic app.
 
#30 ·
My first GPS was a Garmin GPS III+ handheld B&W that had 1.4 MB of map and waypoint storage! Routes went straight from point to point. Ran about 4-5 hours on (4) AA batteries. Screwed a mount on dash of PC800 for it. Then got really fancy wiring it direct to the battery! That is when I upgraded to the identical form factor GPS V with greyscale display and routing that followed roads!

There was a large bulky color Garmin something-III 20 years ago that is not the III+ I had.

Have felt every Garmin since my V has deleted useful features. The III+ and V could display power supply voltage. No Garmin I have used since has that ability. Could see at a glance whether the power cable came unplugged.

Agree with Russ, the 595 is packed with features but everything is implemented mediocre.

My favorite GPS today is a Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT. 7" bright color display. Has just about everything the 595 has but for TPMS. CPU seems faster. And much can be forgiven for being only $99 refurbished from BuyDig.com. A week later I bought a 2nd one. First was for the truck which doesn't have factory nav. Second was for Subaru which does have pathetic factory nav.

The cellphone weather and traffic subscriptions purchased extra for the 595 work with the DriveSmarts.
 
#31 ·
I use an old iPhone 5s, using a bike mount attached to a RAM ball/stem mount. It is in a water resistant otterbox-like case. I can listen to the directions via my Sena. I put a anti-glare film on it and it is generally pretty good. My gloves support typing on a phone but I don't touch it unless stopped anyway.

I am currently flipping back and forth between MapQuest app, Scenic and CoPilot to figure out which I like best. Each have thier advantages and cost a few bucks to commit to fully for all the features and maps - so I am still trying to figure out which one I want to stay with.

 
#32 · (Edited)
I use an old model cell phone as a platform for Navigation. These may be found new/used on Amazon and Ebay for $40. (see attached photo)

Tom/tom GO software is free. (live traffic subscription is $21 a year?)

The old cell phone doesn't have 4G (you can't make calls on it), but it's connected to my primary cell phone via "local hotspot" so it can get traffic updates.

Works well. Doesn't cost much!


 

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#34 ·
I use my cell with google maps.

BUT the main addition I have is a 6in stylus bungied to the front of my tank bag. I use that for working the touch screen. The font is just too small for fingers.
I bet you know this but save the map to the memory if you lose cell service your custom map on some cell phones is deleted.... this happened to a friend of mine.

So I purchased a mint used ZUMO 660 glove friendly and extra audio out for ear buds if I don't wear my helmet that is wired for speakers and mic and plugs into to my old school Motocom hub with GMRS 2 way radio in tank bag. Or if I don't have the tank bag on my ear buds work for GPS.
 
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